The Cousing to pay aken 1 tael tants. Mas railies, demonstrations ENGINEERS suration stop stewade I can be e E3. But this is the best the NCB can offer under Phase 3.
To win their claim the miners will have to do much more than hit production at the pits. They must bust and that means launchtng an all-out fight and sending out flying pickejs to tally. the entire working class for an onslaught on the Tories.
The only value of the overtime can ts ss a lead-up to a national strike. But this must be understood by every rank-and-file miner and must shape how the ban is run. Coal stocks across the country must be run down - but the energies and savings of miners must be preserved for the strugele ahead.
There is one effective way to do Rank-and-file committees shpuld be set up in every pit to run the Ine, refusing to pay men for any time lost because of the ban. They hope to provoke a series of localined confrontations which will exhaust miners before any national strike can be launched. Already a number of such struggies. have taken place.
The establishment of overtime han committees cun help to avoid this channel the frustration and anger of the rank-and-file in the direction of a national strike. They must have a sense that such a strike is really on the cards, that work is being done to prepare for it, and feel that they are directly involved in these preparations.
The National Executive has failed to do this. So it becomes an especially Mass rallies, demonstrations and public meetings in support of a national strike must be held in every area, with the massive participation of local miners and the involvement of other workers in particular groups like the engincers.
Local conferences and joint meetings with representatives of other workEls about to go into strugtie must danger, but the crucial thing is to be set up to work out practical plans for united action against the Steps such as these will make it Impossible for the executive to dither any longer, ensure massive rank-and-file support for a national strike, and can make the miners struggle the focus of a united working class offensive against the Tories general strike. Leading engieering convenors have taken and overcoming the failure of the exce an important initiathe in the struggle for the national engineering workers claim.
They are calling for a natiosal meeting meeting must go hand-in-hand with a oF convenots to be bet in Mancheste on 14 December.
Such a move has already received support lish a continuing body — a national strike from the Sheffield District Committee of coordinating committee - which can pro the AUEW, which passed the following wide deelsive lendership in the struggle for motion at its meeting on 13 November: the claim, and would be accountable to That contact be mode with orher Dist rich to weld Dismict meerings into a nations comenors" meeting shrough red going into streggle - such as the miners alurions adopted et Distrier meetings.
That the aim of the national consenors this meeting to discuss the coordination meestige be to unify the smategy prosecute the national engineering claim This call must be taken up immediately by engineering militants everywhere. It Ingers to play a leading role in the fight should be discussed and supported at against the Tory Government. technic, marched through the centre of the city - an hour Later, there were 3,000 of them .. by 3 o' clock in the afternoon there were not 3,000 but more than 20,000 people. Workers, especially from the building trade, were particularly prominent in orgunising support much so that a junta statement on Saturday referred to buikling wor kers and other known anarchist ele major step towards forging rank-and-file kadership in the struggle for the claim utive to act.
The campaign for this national convenors campaign for a national strike, and it must not be just a one-off tally: it must estab the rank-and-fie for its decisions. Delegates from other groups of workers should be invited to participade in to of action.
Such a move would ensure a serious light for the claim, and allon the eng committees in a joint action comm ittee to coordinate the struggle.
It is now clear that the first phase of the struggle is over. The repression unleushed by the regime has won it a temporary respite. But the events of the last week show the tremendous potential for mass struggle which In this changing situation internation-